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| 296. The Buffoon And The Countryman A rich nobleman once opened the theatres without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person who should invent a new amusement for the occasion. Various public performers contended for the prize. Am ong them came a Buffoon well known among the populace for his jokes, and said that he had a kind of entertainment which had never been brought out on any stage before. This report being spread about made a great stir in the place, and the theatre was crowded in every part. The Buffoon appeared alone upon the boards, without any apparatus or confederates, and the very sense of expectation caused an intense silence. The Buffoon suddenly bent his hea d towards his bosom and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so admirably with his voice that the audience declared that he had a porker under his cloak, and demanded that it should be shaken out. When that was done, and yet nothing was found, they cheered the actor, and loaded him with the loudest applause. A Countryman in the crowd, observing all that had passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at that trick!" and at once proclaimed that he wou ld do the same thing on the next day, though in a much more natural way. On the morrow a still larger crowd assembled in the theatre; but now partiality for their favourite actor very generally prevailed, and the audience came rather t o ridicule the Countryman than to see the spectacle. Both of the performers, however, appeared on the stage. The Buffoon grunted and squeaked away first, and obtained, as on the preceding day, the applause and cheers of the spectators. Next the Countryman commenced, and pretending that he concealed a little pig beneath his clothes (which in truth he did, but not suspected of the audience), contrived to lay hold of and to pull his ear, when he bega n to squeak, and to express in his pain the actual cry of the pig. The crowd, however, cried out with one consent that the Buffoon had given a far more exact imitation, and clamoured for the Countryman to be kicked out of the theatre. On this the rustic produced the little pig from his cloak, and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of their mistake. "Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of judges you are." | 296. 小丑和乡下人 一个富翁有一次开放戏场，不收取任何人费用，并且宣布说如果有任何人，能在此时发明新戏法，则有优厚酬谢。 于是各类型表演的人都为这奖赏而竞争。 其中有一个丑角，他的戏谑是众所皆知的，自己说有一种戏法，从未在台上表演过。 这消息一传出，在这地方上大为震撼，戏场中每处都拥挤不堪。 丑角一人现身台上，没有工具，也没有配角，观众期待甚切，全场非常肃穆。 丑角突然俯下他的头至他的胸襟，学小猪叫的声音，因为他叫的声音这样惊人，因此听众宣称他把猪藏在衣服里，要求他将衣服抖一抖。 他照做了，但并没有找出什么东西。他们欢呼并且给他很热切的喝采声。 一个乡下人在人群中目睹一切，喊道：「大力神，请帮助我吧！他那套技巧不能胜过我的。」于是他立刻宣布翌日也要来表演同样的把戏，并且更为自然。 隔日，戏场中来看的人更加拥挤了，观众多数都偏爱丑角，他们是来嘲笑乡下人，不是来看把戏的。 两个表演的人一同在台上表演。 丑角先学猪叫声，和前一天表演的一样，并得到观众的喝采声和欢呼。 接着乡下人开始表演了，他谎称他藏了一只小猪在衣服底下，（乡下人真的把猪藏在衣服里面，但是观众并没有怀疑他。）将要表演小猪叫声时，就设法把小猪捉紧，拉他的耳朵，于是小猪痛的叫出声来。 可是，观众一致都把丑角的叫声当做真的，喧扰乡下人，要把他踢出场外。 乡下人便从他的衣服里捉出小猪，表示他们判断错误了。 他喊道：「看啊！这表示你们是同一类的评论家。」 |
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ]
v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词) - reward [ri´wɔ:d] n.&v.报答；报酬；奖赏 (初中英语单词)
- invent [in´vent] vt.发明；捏造 (初中英语单词)
- amusement [ə´mju:zmənt] n.娱乐；文娱设施 (初中英语单词)
- entertainment [,entə´teinmənt] n.招(款)待；联欢会 (初中英语单词)
- audience [´ɔ:diəns] n.听众；观众；接见 (初中英语单词)
- shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- spectacle [´spektəkəl] n.展览；表演；景象 (初中英语单词)
- actual [´æktʃuəl] a.现实的；实际的 (初中英语单词)
- crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
- apparatus [,æpə´reitəs] n.仪器；装置 (高中英语单词)
- expectation [,ekspek´teiʃən] n.期待(望)；预期 (高中英语单词)
- intense [in´tens] a.强烈的；紧张的 (高中英语单词)
- applause [ə´plɔ:z] n.鼓掌；欢呼；称赞 (高中英语单词)
- countryman [´kʌntrimən] n.同胞(乡)，乡下人 (高中英语单词)
- 大力神">hercules [´hə:kjuli:z] n.大力神 (高中英语单词)
- squeak [skwi:k] n.&vi.(发)尖叫(声) (高中英语单词)
- imitation [,imi´teiʃən] n.模仿；仿制品；赝品 (高中英语单词)
- rustic [´rʌstik] a.田野的；质朴的 (高中英语单词)
- positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
- greatness [´greitnis] n.巨大；高尚；卓越 (高中英语单词)
- nobleman [´nəublmən] n.贵族 (英语四级单词)
- morrow [´mɔrəu] n.翌日 (英语四级单词)
- ridicule [´ridikju:l] vi.&n.嘲笑；奚落 (英语四级单词)
- preceding [pri(:)´si:diŋ] a.在先的；前面的 (英语四级单词)
- populace [´pɔpjuləs] n.平民；大众；人口 (英语六级单词)
- admirably [´ædmərəbli] ad.令人钦佩地；极妙地 (英语六级单词)
章节正文
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